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The Great Apes
   
Bonobos-Chimpanzees-Orangutans-Gorillas
Great
apes live in "range states": Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central
African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria,
Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Fifteen of these 23 States are least developed countries in Africa.
The Orangutan is found only in the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Malaysia and
Indonesia (Indonesian Kalimantan and Sarawak, and Sabah of Malaysia), while the
other apes are scattered across 21 countries in Equatorial Africa, from Tanzania
in the east to Senegal in the west.
Bonobos,Chimpanzees,
Orangutans and Gorillas are our not so distant cousins in the animal world. They
are intelligent and exhibit feelings and emotions like we do. All
of these great apes are being threatened by deforestation and poaching. We must
take action to save this part of our "family" now. We are similar in many ways,
but for two, they can not "speak" and they do not destroy the
environment like we do.
The
populations of all species are extremely low, or are falling rapidly.
Bonobos, which are found in only one ecosystem in Congo DR, were estimated at
50,000. However, now, after years of civil war, there may be as few as 10,000
left. This species is the most likely to become extinct if no urgent action is
taken.
Chimpanzees, spread widely across Africa, are currently more numerous, but are
also subject to hunting and habitat loss.
The mountain gorillas, of the Virunga volcanos, bordering Congo DR, Rwanda and
Uganda, have a tiny but relatively stable population of around 700 individuals.
The Cross River Gorilla, inhabiting transborder areas between Nigeria and
Cameroon, numbers only about 200 individuals, in isolated pockets. Lowland
gorillas of the large Congo basin number around 100,000; however numbers are
declining fast.
Orangutans total numbers range from 50,000 to 100,000.
Loss
of suitable forest habitat, is the greatest threat to the great apes. More than
70% of the habitat of African great ape species has been negatively affected by
infrastructure development. Other threats include:
- clearing of forests for logging or agriculture
- hunting for "bushmeat" or for the pet trade
- habitat fragmentation by encroaching human settlements
- disease caused by pathogens such as the Ebola virus which can decimate
populations of apes as well as humans
Chimpanzees
just don't understand how humans can be so careless
To
learn more about Bonobos, Chimpanzees,
Orangutans and Gorillas visit and join the following organizations by clicking
on their logo.
Gorilla
photographs by Karl Ammann
http://karlammann.com
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